Electronic apparatus having a cooler

ABSTRACT

A cooler is applied in an electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatus comprises a shell. The shell comprises a cooling opening. The cooler comprises a case and a cooling fan. The case has a connecting opening. The four walls around the connecting opening comprise at least one joint for jointing the cooling opening in a jointing direction. The cooling fan is located in one side of the walls and eliminates the heat in the shell in a cooling direction. The cooling direction is vertical to the jointing direction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a cooler, and more particularly to a cooler jointed to an electronic apparatus in a jointing direction different from the direction of the stress occurred during cooling operation.

(2) Description of the Prior Art

As electronic apparatus become more powerful, the internal elements also are more complicated. Many of them generate a great amount of heat during operation. If the heat is not dispersed properly, the performance of the elements will be affected, even the lift span of the elements will be shortened. When the internal temperature of the electronic apparatus is too high, the operation of the electronic apparatus is impacted and has to stop.

To resolve the aforesaid problem, many electronic apparatus include a cooler. The cooler generally is a fan to generate air circulation to lower the temperature inside the electronic apparatus.

However, installing the fan on an electronic apparatus, whether outward blowing or inward blowing, often results in increasing of noise. The noise mainly is generated by the elements during operations. The rotating vanes of the fan during operation also generates noise. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional electronic apparatus has a shell 10 and a fan 12. The fan 12 is mounted onto the shell 10 by fastening four screws 102, 104, 106 and 108. As the screwing direction of the screws 102, 104, 106 and 108 is same as the rotational direction of the vanes 122 of the fan 12, after the fan 12 has been installed and used for a period of time, the rotational vibration of the fan 12 could loosen the screws 102, 104, 106 and 108. As a result, the fan 12 could hit the shell 10 during operation and generate even more noise.

Nowadays, advances of fabrication techniques for the vanes and assembly have significantly reduced the noise caused by the rotation of the fan. However, the loosening problem between the fan and the shell caused by the stress resulting from rotation of the vanes is not yet resolved. There is still room for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a cooler to eliminate the impact between the stress caused by the rotation of the vanes and the jointing stress occurred to the shell. By means of the invention, loosening of the cooler and the electronic apparatus does not occur even the vanes have operated for a prolonged period of time. Thus the noise generated by the cooler may be reduced

In one aspect, the cooler according to the invention is adopted for use on an electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatus includes a shell which has a cooling opening. The cooler includes a case and a cooling fan. The case has a connecting opening formed by four walls that have at least one joint to couple with the cooling opening. The cooling fan is located on one side of the case in a direction perpendicular to the joint.

In another aspect, the cooler according to the invention is adopted for use on an electronic apparatus which has a shell. The shell has a cooling opening and an inner wall. The cooler has a fastening means and a cooling fan. The fastening means includes a first side and a second side that are perpendicular to each other. The cooling fan is located on the second side to couple with the cooling opening, while the first side is fastened to the inner wall of the shell.

As the cooling fan is mounted on a position perpendicular to the direction of the joint with the electronic apparatus, the stress generated by the fan during rotation does not affect the joint. Hence no loosening occurs even the cooler has been installed and operated for a prolonged period of time. The noise generated by the cooler may be reduced to minimum.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be specified with reference to its preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional electronic apparatus and a fan;

FIG. 2A is a schematic view of the present invention showing the shell of an electronic apparatus housing a cooler;

FIG. 2B is a schematic view of the cooler and the shell to be installed according to FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the joint; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a third embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The cooler according to the invention aims to provide an improved structure to eliminate the effect between the stress direction of the joint of the cooler and an electronic apparatus (namely the jointing direction) and the stress direction of a cooling fan during operation (namely the cooling direction). In other words, the invention aims to disorient the jointing direction of the cooler on the shell and the cooling direction of the cooler during cooling so that the cooling direction is not parallel with the jointing direction.

Refer to FIGS. 2A and 2B for a first embodiment of the present invention. The cooler 20 of the invention is installed in a shell 30 of an electronic apparatus. The shell 30 has a cooling opening 304 to facilitate air ventilation. The cooling opening 304 may be formed on a selected location of the shell 30 as desired. It is to be noted that the electronic apparatus mentioned in the invention means any electronic device that has internal elements generating heat energy, such as a projector, personal computer, notebook computer, or the like. FIG. 2A is based on a projector to serve as an example.

The cooler 20 includes a case 202 and a cooling fan 204. In the first embodiment, FIG. 2B, the case 202 is a hollow rectangular box with a connecting opening 2022. The case may also be formed in other shapes such as cubical or the like The connecting opening 2022 is bordered by four walls that have joints 2024, 2036, 2028 and 2010 to connect to the cooling opening 304 of the shell 30. The joints may be selected from a wide variety of coupling elements, such as the ones shown in FIG. 2B that include four screws 402, 404, 406 and 408, coupling with apertures 3022, 3024, 3026 and 3028 formed on the shell 30 and corresponding screw holes 2032, 2034, 2036 and 2038 formed in the joints 2024, 2036, 2028 and 2010. Such a construction can facilitate disposing of the cooler 20 into the shell 30 from outside and fastening thereafter. The shell 30 and the case 202 may be made from a desired material, such as ABS or other plastics for a general electronic apparatus, or aluminum magnesium alloy or the like for a high price product.

The cooling fan 204 is located on one side of the case 202, such as a wall 2012 shown in FIG. 2B. The purpose of mounting the cooling fan 204 onto such a location aims to prevent loosening of the joints 2024, 2026, 2028 and 2030 during operation of the cooling fan 204. The cooling direction of the cooling fan 204 is perpendicular to the jointing direction of the joints 2024, 2026, 2028 and 2030 (namely, the screwing direction). Of course, the cooling fan 204 may be located on any wall desired. The cooling fan 204 also may have many selections, such as outward blowing fans, inward blowing fans or bi-directional fans. The cooling fan 204 is formed in the case 202 in an integrated manner, thus it does not need additional fastening with screws.

When in operation, if the cooling fan is an inward blowing fan, airflow passes through the cooling opening and the connecting opening into the case, and is channeled into the shell through the cooling fan. If the cooling fan is an outward blowing fan, the airflow flows in the reverse direction, namely from the interior of the shell through the cooling fan, the connecting opening and the cooling opening and is discharged outside the shell. For the bi-directional fan, The rotation direction of the fan may be altered as desired to become an inward blowing or outward blowing fan. The cooling opening and the connecting opening may be designed separately. To facilitate air ventilation, the cooling opening and the connecting opening may be designed with the same dimension.

The joints of the shell and the case, besides the screws, may have other selections. FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment. The joints includes four sets of coupling structures 2042, 2044, 2046 and 2048. Each of the coupling structures has a male latch hook on the case 202 and a female latch trough on the shell 30 that may be wedged and coupled together to fasten the case 202 to the shell 30. All other elements are substantially same as the ones previously discussed.

Besides housing the cooler in a case and installing in a shell of the electronic apparatus, one side of the case where the cooling fan is mounted may also serve as a fastening means to enable the cooling fan to be installed on a different location of the shell according to varying rotational direction of the cooling fan. FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment for this purpose. A cooler 50 is provided for use on an electronic apparatus which has a shell 60. The shell 60 has a cooling opening 602 and an inner wall 604. The cooler 50 includes a fastening means 502 and a cooling fan 504. The fastening means 502 has a first side 5022 and a second side 5024 that are perpendicular to each other. The cooling fan 504 corresponds to the second side and a cooling opening for channeling airflow outwards or inwards. The first side of the fastening means 502 is coupled and fastened to the inner wall 604 of the shell 60 through screws and screw holes as the first embodiment does.

In the third embodiment, the cooler 50 has one side of the case extended to fasten to the shell 60. The extended case, i.e. the fastening means 502, is formed in L-shape. Therefore the first side 5022 may be fastened to the inner wall 604 through screws to enable the screwing direction not interfering with the rotational direction of the cooling fan. Thus the screws do not loosen because of the rotation of the cooling fan, and the fastening means may be coupled and fastened securely to the inner wall for a long period of time.

By means of the invention, the stress generated by the operation of the cooling fan does not affect the joints of the cooler and the shell. The joints of the cooler and the shell can last longer without loosening. And the noise may also be reduced.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 

1. A cooler for an electronic apparatus which has a shell and a cooling opening on the shell, comprising: a case having a connecting opening bordered by four walls which have at least one joint to connect to the cooling opening in a jointing direction; and a cooling fan located on one side of the case for discharging heat energy from the interior of the shell in a cooling direction not parallel with the jointing direction.
 2. The cooler of claim 1, wherein the joint has at least one screw hole, the shell having at least one aperture corresponding to the screw hole to receive at least one screw to fasten the case and the cooler in the jointing direction.
 3. The cooler of claim 1, wherein the connecting opening and the cooling opening have a same dimension.
 4. A cooler for an electronic apparatus which has a shell and a cooling opening on the shell, comprising: a case having at least one joint connecting to the cooling opening in a jointing direction; and a cooling fan located in the case for discharging heat in a cooling direction not parallel with the jointing direction.
 5. The cooler of claim 4, wherein the joint has at least one screw hole, the shell having at least one aperture corresponding to the screw hole to receive at least one screw to fasten the case and the cooler in the jointing direction.
 6. A cooler for an electronic apparatus which has a shell and a cooling opening on the shell, comprising: a case having a connecting opening bordered by four walls which have at least one joint to connect to the cooling opening in a jointing direction; and a cooling fan located on one side of the case for discharging heat energy from the interior of the shell in a cooling direction perpendicular to the jointing direction.
 7. The cooler of claim 6, wherein the joint has at least one screw hole, the shell having at least one aperture corresponding to the screw hole to receive at least one screw to fasten the case to the cooler in the jointing direction.
 8. The cooler of claim 6, wherein the connecting opening and the cooling opening have a same dimension.
 9. A cooler for an electronic apparatus that has a shell which has a cooling opening and an inner wall, comprising: a cooling fan; and a fastening means having a first side and a second side perpendicular to the first side, the cooling fan being located on the second side corresponding to the cooling opening, the first side being fastened to the inner wall.
 10. The cooler of claim 9, wherein the first side has at least one screw hole, the inner wall having at least one aperture corresponding to the screw hole to receive at least one screw to fasten the shell and the fastening means. 